Summary

East African Business Council acting chairman Jim Kabeho said partial harmonisation of trade rules by the six EAC states has hurt expansion in regional trade.

Some EAC countries, he said, are still erecting non-tariff trade barriers at official borders such as refusal to recognise certificate of origin for some goods, more than seven years after the Common Market Protocol was enforced on July 1, 2010.

EAC states’ reluctance to open borders hurts regional trade

Reluctance by individual East African Community (EAC) countries to fully open their borders is hurting trade and growth of local manufacturing firms, a regional business lobby group has said.

East African Business Council acting chairman Jim Kabeho said partial harmonisation of trade rules by the six EAC states has hurt expansion in regional trade.

Some EAC countries, he said, are still erecting non-tariff trade barriers at official borders such as refusal to recognise certificate of origin for some goods, more than seven years after the Common Market Protocol was enforced on July 1, 2010.

The pact allows for free movement of goods, people, labour, services and capital among the six partner states — South Sudan being the latest member.

Also Read

“There are many positions we (EAC) have agreed upon which are not being implemented. Individual countries do not want to give away their authority to the common market,” Mr Kabeho told the Business Daily in Nairobi.

“We do not have a common market per se as far as I am seeing in trade. We still have official borders being non-tariff barriers.”